grandma’s hands More grandmothers are raising their children’s * children /1B Hattie Anthony of Charlotte, sitting, raised granddaughter Ebony Moore-Roach he’s in the ‘thik’ ,OF THINGS Publisher Cecil Dowdell launches magazine for the average women/1 D Volume 31 No. 34 $1.00 CiiartotrS £ lit The Voice of the Black Community Also serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties Gorman’s urban pledge New Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent touts big-district experience"^ PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman takes a question from Gyasi Foluke during the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum . Grand Strand preps for bikers THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MYRTLE BEACH - The South Carolina Grand Strand will host hundreds of thousands of bikers starting this weekend and running through the end of the month. Residents either love or hate the two annual bike ral lies that have continued to grow despite some efforts to downsize the events and increased restrictions and regulations.- The first event is the Harley Davidson rally, which has been held for 66 years at Myrtle Beach. The rally begins Friday and is expected to draw about 300,000 bikers. ^ Bikers will have to adjust to one-way traffic on Ocean Boulevard that will be new this year. The change in traf fic is the result of the settle ment of a lawsuit between the city and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP had sued because the city requires one way traffic during the Atlantic Beach bike rally that comes later this month. The crowd at the rally is predomi nantly black. The Harley crowd is predominantly white. Bikers also will have to watch their noise. North Myrtle Beach police cracked do'wn on noise violations last year, writing 368 tickets with a $129 fine for noise viola tions. This year, Myrtle Beach Please see GRAND7A By Chens F. Hodges cherishodges®lhecharlotieposlx:o>n New Charlotte- Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman says urban educa tion is close to his heart and plans to make himself and the public accountable for the education of all stu dents. On Tuesday morning, Gorman met with a group of mostly Afncan Americans at the Tuesday Breakfast Forum at West Charlotte Recreational Center. After being introduced by school board member George Dunlap, Gorman told the crowd about his background in urban school en'viron- ments. “I was a second grade teacher in Orange County, Florida, and I taught at an inner city school,” he said. After moving on to teach middle school, Gorman said he moved into administra tion, ultimately becoming chief financial officer of Orlando’s school district. “This was a school system that had failed on a tax ref erendum, and had chal lenges with achievement gaps,” he said. Charlotte-Mecklenburg is experiencing similar issues. According to a report fixim Wake County Judge Howard Manning, “When the Court reviewed the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools ...performancecom posite scores, the high school composite scores jumped out like a ‘sore thumb.’ CMS supports its See SUPERINTENDENT/3A CLOSING ONE CHAPTER, OPENING ANOTHER PHOTO/WADE NASH Video camera in hand, Livingstone College graduate Moises Gordon of Patterson, New Jersey, can barely contain his enthusiasm during commencement at Alumni Stadium Saturday. Emotions are as much a part of gradua tion day as “Pomp and Circumstance.” At Livingstone College in Salisbury and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, both were evident last weekend. Hugs, kisses and tears were the order of the day on both campuses as the schools sent the Class of 2006 into the next chapter of their lives. After the marching and long speeches, was the part everyone waited for - after grad uation celebrations with family and fnends. Herbert L. White PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON Jeruelle Fort’s tears of joy helped bring Johnson C. Smith University’s com mencement to a close Sunday at Cricket Arena. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) was commencement speaker for the Class of 2006, which had 226 graduates. Rice: Expect a minority president - just not me By William C. :Mann THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she expects to see a U.S. presi dent from an ethnic minority In Real Estate: Deck trends for makeovers/4D during her lifetime, but it will not be her. Rice’s audience of young Latinos laughed and applauded when she said it Friday, and she responded with an embar rassed grin. Rice, who is black, has been asked repeatedly whether she plans to run for the open Republican candidacy in 2008, when her boss, President Bush, completes his second term and cannot run again. She is consid ered a prospect for the 2008 GOP nomination in some Republican circles despite her protestations that she’s not interested in running. On Friday, a young man from Please see RICE/7A Sudan help now welcome Taskforce proposes options to improve N.C. health care coverage By Mohamed Osman THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudan would welcome the help of the United Nations in Darfur to implement a peace agreement between Khartoum and one of the rebel groups, despite the country’s initial resistance, a gov ernment spokesman said. Bakri Mulah, secretary-general for external affairs in the Information Ministry, was speaking a day after the agreement was reached in Abuja, Nigeria. His comments Saturday opened the door for the possibility that Sudan could accept U.N. peacekeep ers to replace the thousands of Afncan Union peacekeepers now in Darfur. The Sudanese government had ini tially rejected calls for deplo3dng a U.N, force. “We heard the appeal of the U.N. secretary general.... Now there is no problem,” he said. “The Sudan govern ment wiU be open for any assistance. It wfil not reject or oppose any effort either from the EU (European Union) or from the United States or from the United Nations in realizing peace in Darfur on the grounds of this agree ment,” he told The Associated Press in English. But later Saturday, Egypt’s Middle East News Agency quoted Mulah as saying; "It is too early to talk about Please see SUDAN/3A I the box NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS Role models get together for kids The Males Place is tipping off its 2th annual Then Role Model All- Star Basketball Classic May 19 at Johnson C. Smith University’s Grimes Lounge. The classic recog nizes young people who are achieving academically and as ciU izens. The Role Model event includes a pizza party, banquet for partici pants and basketball game with the all-stars taking on a team of community leaders and celebri ties. The program, sponsored by Mecklenburg County, includes an involvement education series that continues through June 7. For information, call Reggie Singleton at (704) 336-6423 or Keith Cradle at (704) 336-5337. Herbert L. White ooo Life IB Religion 5B Sports 1C Business 7C A&E ID Happenings 6C INSIOi To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.© 2006 The Chariotte Post Publishing Co. Recycle